Brighton Pictures, East Sussex, England

St George’s Mews, North Laine, Brighton, East Sussex county.

Brighton Tourism

Brighton, on England’s south east coast, is the favourite seaside resort of Londoners since the 19th Century when the Prince of Wales started to visit and had the Royal Pavilion built there. Royal hangers-on, the rich and the want-to-be rich soon followed, but it was the construction of the first rail line London to Brighton in 1840 that kick-started serious development.

Brighton is something of a favourite with gays but enjoyed by straights and families too as it’s easy to reach from London, anarchic, creative, boisterous, fully-oxygenated, inexpensive and very compact. In fact it has been known as London-by-the-Sea.

Depending on reliability of trains or traffic congestion the trip should take labout an hour from London Victoria or London Bridge stations by frequent trains. Or hop on a coach (comfortable, long-distance buses) or rent a car.

Brighton pier, a Victorian relic that is free to enter and loaded with fairground-style entertainments.

Brighton’s Royal Pavilion, the city’s most enduring cultural attraction, East Sussex.

Once in the town centre transport is unnecessary as most of the action is in the compact centre, stretching a block or two north of the four-mile beach, its promenade and the tacky but colourful Pier.

The labyrinthine The Lanes area immediately north of the promenade is Brighton’s wildlife watering-hole while just north of The Lanes is, confusingly (or not), North Laine – the grazing ground for alternative eating, arty shops, boutiques, bohemians and off-the-wall eccentricity. See our Brighton map.

Brighton embraces a range of housing styles from hideous council monstrosities, though Victorian and back to Tudor.

An original Banksy in an original Brighton. Love the place!

The Lanes area, near Brighton beach.

The city hosts an active counter-culture, both gay and anti-establishment. This was Church Street beside the Brighton Dome.

LGBT Brighton

Gay Brighton: Interestingly there is an old main street through Brighton called Dyke Road and a Dyke Golf Club. Is it a coincidence that Brighton is probably Britain’s most vibrant LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) scene?

Brighton Pride is a week-long pink fest at the end of every July that climaxes in a weekend parade, while Kemp Town, east of the pier is the city’s ‘gay quarter’.

Hove, adjoining Brighton and just a short walk along the prom but a different era in time.

Hove’s wide promenade, lawns and elegant buildings offer the London refugee more space, less stress, more quiet and less tacky entertainment than wild brother Brighton. This wired and rapping space case was superb and should be picked up by Simon Cowell immediately!